Tag: mining

Coal mining to resume in Meghalaya after 9 years: CM

[ad_1]
Shillong: Coal mining is set to resume in Meghalaya after nine years, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Wednesday.
He said the Union Ministry of Coal has provided approval for mining lease to four license applicants that would lead to the commencement of scientific mining ensuring minimal environmental impact through sustainable and legally compliant extraction procedures.
“In a significant step towards initiating scientific coal mining, the Ministry of Coal had last month provided approval for mining lease to four applicants out of the 17 prospecting license applicants,” Sangma told PTI.

He said the mining will follow scientific procedures ensuring minimal environmental impact through sustainable and legally compliant extraction procedures.
According to the chief minister, as part of scientific mining, reclamation of coal mining areas and use of advanced technologies such as remote sensing, aerial surveys and 3D modelling would be prioritised and environmental impact would be mitigated significantly.
The National Green Tribunal had in April 2014 imposed a blanket ban on coal mining and transportation of coal in Meghalaya causing a massive blow to the revenue of the state.
As a result, the mining industry suffered a negative growth of (-) 59.36 per cent and the GSDP registered a negative growth of (-) 2.82 per cent, according to the chief minister.
In July 2019, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance challenged the NGT order following which the Supreme Court upheld the rights of tribal people over the natural resources in their land including coal but upheld the ban on unscientific mining and transportation.

Despite the NGT ban, illegal mining and transportation continued in the state and several cases were filed in various courts including the High Court.
The chief minister in this year’s budget session of the Assembly told the House that around 1,900 criminal cases have been registered for illegal mining and transportation of coal – 1,701 cases for transportation illegally and 203 against illegal mining.
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya High Court has ordered that no coal should be exported to Bangladesh without ascertaining the origin of the coal.
“No coal should be allowed to be exported from any place in the State of Meghalaya to Bangladesh without both the state authorities and the relevant LCS authorities being satisfied as to the origin of the mineral and retaining copies of the documents that may be produced by the intending exporter as to the origin of such material,” a division bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee said in an order passed on Tuesday.
The bench while hearing a case has also directed Assam and the Gasuapara Land Custom Station (LCS) authorities to respond to the queries with regard to the huge quantity of coal exported by a company.
Assam authorities have to indicate whether it was possible for the company to purchase that huge quantity of coal from the open markets in Beltola area and whether it was the truth, the court said.
[ad_2]
#Coal #mining #resume #Meghalaya #years
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 3, 2023
Hyderabad: OU professors to revive engineering course in mining tech

[ad_1]
Hyderabad: To revive the engineering course in mining technology, Osmania University’s College of Engineering has received sponsorship for two of its professor chairs from Coal India Ltd and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL).
View Post
The varsity’s alumni association president D Vijay Kumar, while speaking at the global alumni meet of its engineering college on Sunday, said that SCCL has also funded the construction of the classroom complex for the Department of Electronics and Communication.

The event saw the participation of around 500 alumni and students.
Highlighting the formation of the Osmania Foundation as an umbrella organization for all alumni associations of colleges under OU, Kumar said, “The alumni association along with the mining engineers’ fraternity managed to get two professor chairs.”
Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (NPDCL), Warangal, chairman and managing director (CMD) A Gopal Rao, who was also present at the event, appreciated the efforts of the alumni in giving back to their alma mater and recalled incidents during his college days at OU.
OU vice-chancellor D Ravinder, meanwhile, has appealed to the alumni to also share their intellectual knowledge and mentor the university to make it compete globally.

Subscribe us on
[ad_2]
#Hyderabad #professors #revive #engineering #mining #tech
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 1, 2023
Seven Arrested For Illegal Mining, Attacking Govt Employees

[ad_1]
SRINAGAR: Soon after a video went viral on social media, Kulgam Police arrested at least seven people involved in illegal mining and thrashing mining officials as well as lease holders in Khrewan area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, officials said on Saturday.
Sources told the news agency KNO that a video went viral on social media in which the accused people were seen thrashing government employees on duty and lease holders in Khrewan Ashmuji.
They said several mining officials and lease holders suffered injuries in the incident.
The accused were also involved in illegal mining in the area, which is a threat to the environment, they said.
“Acting tough upon the video, Kulgam Police arrested all the seven accused involved in the incident and an FIR has been registered at Kulgam Police Station,” they added. (KNO)

[ad_2]
#Arrested #Illegal #Mining #Attacking #Govt #Employees
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 18, 2023
Telangana Edu Min involved in illegal mining, 101 documents retrieved: CBI

[ad_1]
Hyderabad: The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) on Friday informed the Telangana High Court that they are in possession of 101 documents that manifest Telangana education minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy’s role in the illegal mining case.
The bench of Telangana HC headed by chief justice Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing a criminal revision plea filed by Sabitha Reddy challenging the decision of the Hyderabad CBI court that refused to discharge her from the illegal mining case involving mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy and his Obulapuram Mining Company.
During the argument, CBI’s special public prosecutor N Nagendran refuted the charge laid on the bureau of holding Sabitha an accused without any substantive material, by presenting the documentary evidence to prove their claim.
CBI counsel said that her actions helped private parties gain undue advantage and money, which was enough to convict a public servant in a corruption case.
“We laid our hands on 104 documents. Of them, 101 turned out to be new ones and we relied on them in our supplementary chargesheet, making Sabitha an accused in the case,” he said.
“She was asked to wait. She did not wait and took a decision favouring OMC when she was a minister in the united AP government,” CBI counsel said.
Requesting the HC to dismiss her plea, the counsel of the bureau said, “Sabitha may have signed the file because she did not know the legal consequences. But, ignorance of the law is no excuse. She has to face trial.”
Sabith’s counsel, E Uma Maheswara Rao in return said that the then-state government issued two GOs granting mining leases to OMC in 2007.

“Those two were legally scrutinised and no courts scrapped the GOs. She did her job consciously and not with ignorance as was alleged by CBI,” he added.
However, the case was adjourned to March 17.
The minister, in January, had sought relief from the charges laid against her by filing a criminal revision petition in the state’s HC.
Sabitha, in undivided AP, was the mining minister while Krupanandam and Srilakshmi were working as secretaries in the industries and mines department respectively when they were charged with conspiring with Janardhan Reddy and his OMC.
The CBI charged her with assisting mining baron G Janardhan Reddy in illegally extracting iron ore on the AP-Karnataka border and exporting it.
[ad_2]
#Telangana #Min #involved #illegal #mining #documents #retrieved #CBI
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 25, 2023
Lithium discovery important for India’s EV push but mining poses serious environmental risks: Experts

[ad_1]
New Delhi, Feb 24: The discovery of lithium in Jammu and Kashmir is significant for India’s push towards electric vehicles but any environmental gains could be negated if it is not mined carefully, say experts, citing risks such as air pollution and soil degradation in the fragile Himalayan region.
The Geological Survey of India recently identified a potential deposit of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium in Reasi district’s Salal-Haimana area, the first such anywhere in India, which imports lithium. GSI said the site is an “inferred resource” of the metal, which means it is at a preliminary exploration stage, the second of a four-step process.
The discovery of lithium deposits can be a potential “game changer” for the country’s clean energy manufacturing ambitions in several ways, said Siddharth Goel, senior policy advisor at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
“First of all, the scale of the reserves is significant, and can — if proven to be commercially viable — reduce India’s reliance on imports of lithium-ion cells, which are a key component for EV batteries and other clean energy technologies,” he said.
But there is a flip side too.
“Reports indicate that approximately 2.2 million litres of water are needed to produce one tonne of lithium. Further, mining in the unstable Himalayan terrain is fraught with risks,” cautioned Saleem H. Ali, distinguished professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware.
Lithium mining in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, for instance, has led to concerns over soil degradation, water shortages and contamination, air pollution and biodiversity loss.
“This is because the mining process is extremely water-intensive, and also contaminates the landscape and the water supplies if not done in a sustainable method,” Ali said.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), about a fourth of the Earth’s known lithium deposits (88 million tonnes) would be economical to mine, said Charith Konda, energy analyst, Electricity Sector at at US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
“Applying this benchmark, India could probably economically extract 1.5 million tonnes of lithium from the 5.9 million tonnes discovered in preliminary studies,” Konda told PTI.
Economically here would mean that the resources and technology used to extract will give good return in terms of usage of the resource.
“India has a vision of increasing the share of electric vehicle sales to 30 per cent in private cars, 70 per cent in commercial vehicles, 40 per cent in buses, and 80 per cent in two- and three-wheelers by 2030. In absolute numbers, this could translate to 80 million EVs on Indian roads by 2030,” Konda said.
The battery pack of an average electric car, he explained, requires 8 kg of lithium. By this metric, India’s economically extractable lithium reserves should be enough to power 184.4 million electric cars.
Currently, India is import dependent for several elements such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. Ministry of Commerce data shows that India spent around Rs 26,000 crore importing lithium between 2018-2021.
In 2021, preliminary surveys by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) showed the presence of lithium resources of 1,600 tonnes in Mandya District in Karnataka. However, there has been no report of mining the resource till date.
An IISD study found that access to critical elements such as lithium is a key challenge faced by companies investing in India’s EV ecosystem.
“These reserves could potentially be a huge carrot to attract investment into domestic battery manufacturing and other clean energy technologies,” Goel said
The potential site in Reasi has the same amount of lithium as the reserves in the US and more than China’s current reserves which are around 4.5 million tonnes.
However, the world’s largest lithium reserves in South America — especially in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina — are several times greater, collectively over 40 million metric tonnes.
According to University of Delaware’s Ali, domestic supply of usable lithium, if developed, could help develop batteries for solar and wind storage and EV usage.
What is critical in this scenario is the government putting in place the right support to make sure that securing these critical minerals is done in a socially and environmentally responsible manner, experts agree.
Environmentalists also argue that the focus should be on redesigning cities to reduce car usage in general instead of using metals like lithium to shift to EVs.
“This could specially be done in high density population centres of India with smarter urban planning,” Ali said.
This is because even when safeguards try to limit the social and environmental harm around fossil fuel extraction, which is considerable, there is no “fix” for air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, IISD’s Goel added.
“Given that lithium-ion batteries are the most advanced batteries available, they would continue to play a major role for the foreseeable future. India should mine lithium with proper environmental and social safeguards in place given the ecological and political sensitivities of the area,” IEEFA’s Konda said.–(PTI)
[ad_2]
#Lithium #discovery #important #Indias #push #mining #poses #environmental #risks #Experts
( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

February 24, 2023
Assam losing Rs 2,000 cr revenue per month due to illegal coal mining: AJP

[ad_1]
Digboi: Opposition party Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) on Sunday alleged that the northeastern state is losing nearly Rs 2,000 crore in revenue every month due to rampant illegal rat-hole coal mining in several places, particularly in Tinsukia district.
The party sent a memorandum to the President, Prime Minister, Supreme Court Chief Justice, Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, NHRC Chairman and National Green Tribunal Chairman highlighting the issue.
“We have been highlighting rampant illegal coal mining, particularly rat-hole mining, in various parts of Assam. It has a direct impact on the environment, public health and the state exchequer,” AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi told PTI here.
He claimed that the government is aware that illegal coal mining, which has continued unabated for decades in Assam, has caused large-scale destruction to Dehing Patkai National Park — the largest rainforest in the Northeast.
The AJP, in its memorandum, pointed out that the NGT had in 2014 banned rat-hole coal mining, while alleging that it is still going on and the Assam government is aware of the illegal activities in the Digboi Forest Division.
“Inquiries in this regard have been ordered frequently at different levels. Commissions have been appointed to probe the illegal activity. These commissions have also submitted voluminous reports only to be shelved with no visible action,” the memorandum alleged.
Highlighting various directives of the Gauhati High Court, it alleged that even PSU firm Coal India carried out illegal mining inside the forest for 16 years from 2003 to 2019, which was admitted by the company in 2020.
“Seizure of trucks laden with coal dug out from the forests around Ledo-Margherita region has become a regular phenomenon despite there being a ban on rat-hole mining, without the kingpins ever being nabbed.

“It has created an impression that the government often displays a total inability, even reluctance, to check the illegal mining of coal in the eastern tip of Assam bordering Arunachal Pradesh,” the memorandum alleged.
The party claimed that there is no effective mechanism to keep a tab on the forested region and only the forest department and the police sometimes conduct drives to check illegal coal mining, but without any result.
“Tikak and Tirap are the two main coal producing collieries in Ledo-Margherita. They lie in close proximity to some villages, which facilitate the illegal miners/traders to hire local residents for digging coal. Locals, including women and children, use sharp tools to extract coal through the rat-hole method,” AJP alleged.
Further, transportation of the illegally mined coal is a bigger issue in terms of money transaction and tax evasion, which goes up to thousands of crores, it claimed.
“It is astonishing to know that daily 500-600 truckloads of coal are being transported, alone in Ledo- Margherita area, and the amount of commission ranges from Rs 70,000 to Rs 75,000 per truck,” the memorandum alleged.
The commission for other areas such as Jagun, Tipong Jisubai and Koylajan is even more and ranges from Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.35 lakh per truck, it added.
“These commissions are taken in lieu of the tax challan that otherwise is required for transportation. Thus, the government is losing several crores. The estimated total monthly illegal transaction on account of illegal mining and transportation of coal in the state amounts to nearly Rs 2,000 crore per month,” the AJP claimed.
The opposition party claimed that illegal rat-hole coal mining has resulted in large-scale money laundering, misuse of money for criminalising politics and society, irreplaceable degradation of environment and forest, and huge loss of government revenue.
“We demand that illegal mining be stopped immediately and stern action be initiated against the persons (irrespective of government official and/or politician) involved in patronising illegal mining and transportation of coal,” AJP said in the document.
When contacted, state Mines and Minerals Minister Nandita Gorlosa declined to comment and said her secretary would get back to PTI. But no reaction was received from any government official despite several attempts.
[ad_2]
#Assam #losing #revenue #month #due #illegal #coal #mining #AJP
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 19, 2023
Telangana education minister seeks relief from illegal mining charges

[ad_1]
Hyderabad: Telangana’s education minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy is seeking relief from illegal mining charges brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
While contesting the orders of the Special CBI Court in Hyderabad, Sabitha filed a criminal revision petition in the Telangana High Court on Tuesday.
The CBI court had rejected discharge applications submitted by Sabitha, AP IAS officer Y Srilakshmi, and former AP Mines and Geology director VD Rajagopal in October 2022.
The defendants claimed that they were only doing their jobs and had not committed any crime.
The CBI charged them with assisting mining baron G Janardhan Reddy in illegally extracting iron ore on the AP-Karnataka border and exporting it.
Sabitha, in undivided AP, was the mining minister while Krupanandam and Srilakshmi were working as secretaries in the industries and mines department respectively when they were charged with conspiring with Janardhan Reddy and his OMC.
The petition will likely be heard in a few days.

Subscribe us on
[ad_2]
#Telangana #education #minister #seeks #relief #illegal #mining #charges
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 25, 2023